Andrew Johnson (1808-1875)

He was preceded in the Presidency by Abraham Lincoln, stepping in after Lincoln was assassinated in April, 1865. He was born in a two-room shack in Raleigh, North Carolina, and served one term in office for the Republican Party before being succeeded in 1869 by Ulysses S. Grant. Having originally been Lincoln's Vice-President, he served his term without a Vice-President of his own. His presidency (1865-1869) was marked by intense conflict and controversy during the critical Reconstruction period following the Civil War. A Tennessee Democrat who remained loyal to the Union, Johnson's approach to Reconstruction clashed dramatically with the Republican-controlled Congress. While Congress favored harsh measures against the defeated Confederacy and strong protections for freed slaves, Johnson pursued a lenient policy toward the South and opposed civil rights legislation. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Freedmen's Bureau Bill, leading to escalating tensions with Congress.

The conflict reached its climax when Johnson violated the Tenure of Office Act by dismissing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in 1868. The House of Representatives impeached Johnson on eleven charges, primarily for "high crimes and misdemeanors." During the Senate trial, Johnson narrowly escaped removal from office by a single vote, with the final tally falling one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. Johnson's presidency has been characterized by his inability to work with Congress and his resistance to meaningful Reconstruction policies that might have better protected the rights of newly freed African-Americans. He is famous as the first President to be impeached in office and has gone down in history as one of the worst U.S. Presidents. He and his wife had five children, all of whom lived to adulthood.